Investigating magistrate Alfredo Mondeja decided to shelve his probe into Edinburgh-born Connery after receiving a 56-page affidavit from him denying any wrongdoing.

But he labelled the former 007 “obstructive and ignorant” as he announced his decision to eliminate him from the inquiry – dubbed Goldfinger after the 1964 Bond film he starred in.

A letter will now be sent to the Bahamas, where the couple live, informing Micheline of the court decision and ordering her to appoint a defence lawyer.

A date for the trial, which will take place at a criminal court in Malaga, has yet to be set.

Sean Connery's former Spanish home Casa Malibu in Marbella

State prosecutors claim Micheline, 86, aided and abetted a complex operation to defraud the Spanish Treasury of nearly £5.5million in 2006 through a Spanish company called By The Sea.

Prison sentences for first-time offenders are normally only suspended if they are two years or less, meaning it is likely she will do jail time if convicted and sentenced in line with the prosecution demand.

Prosecutors allege she collaborated with lawyers and businessmen charged in the case to formalise “fictitious legal transactions” so profits from the sale of Casa Malibu could be hidden from the taxman.

After the sale, the house was torn down and more than 70 flats, sold for an estimated £45million, were built on the site – despite regulations stipulating only five flats could be built there.

In January, 16 people will go on trial in connection with the Goldfinger case.

Micheline’s trial will take place separately because the last part of the probe into her has been conducted as a separate investigation.

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Sir Sean Connery with his wife Micheline Roquebrune at the French Open in 2005

Mondeja blasted the Connerys over delays in the case when he announced he was taking no action against Sir Sean.

His decision came following the receipt of an affidavit from the actor – almost three years after it was requested by investigators.

The magistrate said: “Although the delays may have harmed the progress of the case, it’s also true that if the suspects had observed the proper rules of conduct, namely a minimum level of cooperation with the judicial authorities, the fate of those suspects would have been clarified more than two years ago.”

He added that the couple had shown “a slackness that could even be described as showing little respect towards the work of the Spanish judicial system”.

When the allegations first surfaced, Micheline, Connery’s wife of 40 years, described them as nonsense.

The couple’s lawyers have failed to respond to repeated emails asking them to comment on the case.